Zutara Week 2009!
by Dreaming 11
Summary: This is my first Zutara week and its all at their present ages, as teens, not grown up. Trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible. Please read! And reveiw!
1. Crossover

**Disclaier: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

Zutara Week: Crossover

Katara shuffled around the main pavilion in the Western Air Temple, cleaning up. She folded up some of Sokka's dirty clothes that were lying scattered on the floor and deftly swept a wave of water across a particularly dirty patch on the floor. The motherly girl continued cleaning, lost in her own thoughts. Though she was not to be left to her own devices, as she might have wished....

"Oh lighten up, Sweetness! Come play Pai Sho with us, I'm totally creaming knucklehead here," the 'knucklehead' to which Toph was referring to made a strangled sound of protest.

"I am not a knucklehead! And I'm not losing either!" Sokka cried.

"Yeah you are," Zuko grinned, leaning back against a boulder Toph had so kindly placed there before....while throwing it at Aang during training. Sitting beside him, Aang chuckled and shrugged sympathetically at Sokka. At the sound of Zuko's voice, Katara tensed, but a split second later, she visibly forced herself to relax, a fact that was not lost on any of the other kids. Toph, though her face didn't change, reached out her awareness towards the prince specifically. Sokka and Aang shared a look and Zuko lowered his head.

"I'll go....clean up my room," Zuko said quietly. He stood and with his head lowered, walked out of the room. No one challenged his pitiful excuse to escape and they watched him pass silently. When Toph felt him walk out of hearing range, she exhaled a huge breath.

"Gosh, Sugar Queen. Did you have to do that?"

Katara closed her eyes and sat down on the edge of the fountain, massaging her temples. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. It was just ...... a reflex, I suppose. It's hard,"

Aang leapt up, going up unnaturally high before landing lightly on the fountain beside her, his clothes rustling on the brief breeze that was created. He sat next to her companionably and draped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay, Katara. I know its hard to trust him, but he really is a nice guy,"

"Once you get past the introverted-ness, silence, temper, and arrogance," Sokka piped up in a fake cheery voice.

"And if I can forgive him, you can too," Aang finished confidently, choosing to ignore Sokka.

"Yeah. Seriously though," Sokka gave up the peppy facade and became somber, "You should go talk to him. Resolve those feelings, get over the trust issues. Talk it out, you know?"

"Yeah...I guess I should," the girl stood wearily.

"He's in his room," Toph added. Katara nodded and strode away, bracing herself internally for the conversation she was about to have.

"......"

"Wanna play Pai Sho?"

************************************************************************

Katara paused briefly in front of the wooden door. _I can't believe I'm actually doing this..._ She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Hey. It's me," she called quietly.

A brief silence ensued and then Katara heard the rustling of blankets and clothes. The door opened a crack and Zuko's unscarred eye was there, his rumply black hair hanging into it. They stared at each other for a moment before Zuko seemed to come to his senses.

"Oh. Hi," he said as he opened the door and walked away. Katara stood awkwardly in the doorway before walking in and quietly shutting the door behind her. Zuko strode across his small room and plopped down onto his bed. He rested he elbows on his knees, hands clasped together, and head bowed, seemingly perfectly content to say nothing.

As she stood in the middle of the room, Katara let her eyes flicker around curiously. She had never been inside Zuko's room in the temple and had wondered briefly what it looked like. Besides the bed in the corner (its blankets folded carefully, Katara noted, pleased), the only other furniture in the room was a small desk on which sat Zuko's travel worn pack. Propped up against the wall however, was a portrait of the old man, General Iroh. The one who had saved her back in Ba Sing Se. When Zuko had betrayed them. Katara winced and hastily shoved the painful memory away. Those kinds of memories would do nothing for the coming discussion.

Looking up, Zuko followed the line of her sight to the portrait.

"My uncle. He loved me like a son, like his own. He was always there for me, with tea and advice, or just to listen to my problems. My whole life, beside my mother, he was the only one who ever cared about me. He abandoned his family and life in the Fire Nation to be with me in my exile," Zuko closed his eyes, as if the memory was too painful, "And I betrayed him,"

Katara'sheart was touched. Here was a glimpse of lost, lonely, confused, and hurt boy she had so briefly seen before. She sat down next to him on the bed, all wariness forgotten.

"Yeah, you did. But Zuko, you're truly sorry for what you did and you're here now. With us. Trying to help save the world. You make us tea, help wash the dishes, teach Aang firebending, make jokes with Sokka, and do everything you can to make up for burning Toph's feet. You're a different person than you were, and your uncle would be proud,"

Zuko shook his head angrily.

"You don't understand! He hates me, I know he does. How could he forgive me after all that I betrayed him? How could he lo-like me anymore?"

"Zuko, from hearing what your uncle did for you, he loves you very much. If he truly loves you that much, and he does, he will forgive you," Katara smiled at him.

Zuko looked up at her, his eyes speaking mountains.

"Thank you," he said, with a small smile.

Katara answered with a grin and she stood. She placed her hands on either side of his head and placed a motherly kiss on the top of his head. Ruffling his dark hair, Katara walked out of the room. As she left, she looked over her shoulder and said a few words that sealed their friendship.

"And Zuko? I forgive you," And with that, she left the room.

Speechless, Zuko subconsciously reached up a hand and placed it on the spot where she had kissed him and then moved his hand to rest on his lips. _Maybe someday...._

And the bridge between polite tolerance and friendship was crossed over, and two teenagers became unbreakable friends. And maybe more...someday.

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! So, this is for Zutara week, though I haven't actually signed up (mainly because I don't know if I need to and if I do, I don't know how, but whatever. :D) and I'm just writing. Yeah, its not really romantic Zutara, 'cept for that bit at the end that's onesided Zutara and promises more. Please reveiw! I've never done prompts and I don't know how I did....**


	2. Blood

**Disclaier: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

Zutara Week: Blood

Zuko stood self-consciously in front of the four members of the gang. Every one of them was in an defense pose, glaring furiously at him. He looked at each one of them pleadingly, his eyes meeting with theirs. When he looked at the waterbender, Katara, the pure fury and rage in her eyes made him stumble back a little.

"I think its time I joined your group. I can teach the Avatar firebending, and..." Zuko looked at them helplessly. To his excitement, the blind earthbender who he had burned was looking thoughtful and had relaxed a little bit at his words. The other three however....

"You think, that after everything you've done to us, to Aang, that we will willingly let you near us," Katara's words were flat, turning the question into a statement that obviously said **no. **

Zuko felt fear rise in him, and he tried not to flinch.

"AAARRRRGHHH!!!" Katara's wordless scream of rage tore through him and she raised her arms in a waterbending pose. With a sweep of her arms, she swept a huge wave of water drawn from the fountain over him, throwing Zuko painfully to the floor. As the poor boy spluttered on the ground, coughing, Katara moved her arms back and forth, the water trailing behind it. Wave after wave of water crashed onto Zuko's body, pummeling him relentlessly. Zuko struggled to defend himself, to call up fire to evaporate the water, but in the relentless wet he could barely draw breath, much less firebend.

"Katara!" Aang was yelling at his friend now, "Katara don't do this! You're killing him!"

But even the voice of her best friend and adopted little brother couldn't calm her now. Katara felt a white hot fury boiling through her blood and her vision turned red. And in her rage, she called on the invisible moon for strength.

She raised her arms and clasped them together, and slowly brought them down, a fierce, wild look of concentration on her face. Zuko's face blanched and his eyes flickered around, panicked and confused as his body moved of its own accord.

"What are you doing?! I can't make myself stop!" Zuko yelled. Recognition dawned on the faces of Katara's friends as they abandoned their stances and rushed over to her.

"Katara! Stop!" Sokka yelled, boomerang forgotten as he pulled on Katara's arm. His sister's arm moved and an answering jerk of Zuko's body stopped Sokka.

"Sugar Queen, you don't know what you're doing!"

"Katara....please!" Aang pleaded.

But Katara was beyond hearing reason. She felt a sudden wave of anger crash over her and she jerked her arms to her side and her fingers curled into fists. Zuko fell to his knees painfully and screamed as he felt his insides searing with unbelievable pain beyond any he had ever endured.

Suddenly, Katara collapsed, her anger and power spent and Zuko was released. broken and beaten on the ground.

Sokka rushed over to her and scooped his little sister up in his arms. Aang clutched her hand and after reassuring himself that the girl he loved was safe in her brother's arms, ran over to Zuko. Toph was already there, checking for a pulse or a breath. As Aang knelt by her side, she spoke grimly.

"His heart's still beating, but softy and erratically. His breath is barely there, but he's alive,"

Aang looked on in horror. Zuko was horrible yes, but did he deserve to die like this? Toph suddenly stood and yelled to Sokka.

"Snoozles! We have to wake Katara up! She's the only one who can save him,"

"You saw how mad she was! Do you really think she'll heal him after she was the one to do this in the first place?" Sokka asked, incredulous.

"She wasn't herself, Snoozles. You know her better than I do; she'll heal him,"

Sokka acknowledged this with a nod and strode over to the fountain and began splashing water on his sister's face. A few moments later, Katara's eyes flickered open and Sokka's face swam into view.

"Sokka...?" she whispered weakly.

"Katara. You have to wake up," Sokka told her gently. Toph was not so gentle.

"Sugar Queen, I don't know how you did it, but you bloodbended in broad daylight and nearly killed Zuko. You have to wake up and fix him,"

Katara's look of horror as remembrance crossed her features would have been almost comical if a life hadn't been on the line.

"I, I, I .... " Katara was disgusted with herself. She was no better than the Fire Nation now.

"Katara, you have to get up!" Aang said. And so Katara steeled herself and rose, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head and walked over to Zuko's prone body.

"Water," she managed to choke out. Aang hurridley passed a sphere of water to her and Katara caught it in her hands without batting an eye. She knelt by Zuko's side and closed her eyes in concentration.

"Toph, hold his head," she commanded with her eyes still closed. The earthbender shut her mouth and looking unusually grim, did as she asked.

Taking in a deep breath, Katara pressed the glowing water to Zuko's body and sent it's healing through him. Slowly, she stitched together ruptured organs, mended broken bone, and fit together torn muscle. Her own body was wracked with shivers; it was weak and she was now healing on will power alone but she pressed on. Aang sat across from her and fed water into her hands every time she ran low. Sokka placed his hand supportivley on her back in an effort to convey his own strength and support and love into her. An hour later, Katara dropped her hands and opened her eyes.

"That's all I can do..." she whispered as her eyelids fluttered closed.

*********************************************************************************

"Zuko!" Katara sat bolt upright then fell back to her pillows with a pained groan as her head burst into pain caused by the sudden motion.

"Hey," Zuko called wryly from where he lay on his own earthbended bed several feet from her.

"I'm so sorry! I just, was so mad a-"

"For proper reasons. You had every reason to hate me, to want me did, to be as mad as you were," Zuko interrupted.

"Be that as it may," she began, causing Zuko to lower his head, "I'm still sorry for almost killing you,"

"I would have died if you hadn't healed me," Zuko pointed out.

"I only had to heal you because I almost killed you!" Katara protested..

Zuko looked at her with an exasperated look in his eyes.

"Let's just leave it at I'm sorry for everything I did to you,"

"And I'm sorry for almost killing you,"

Zuko smiled a half-smile at her before lying back on his bed slowly. Katara cast a critical eye over him and noted that his torso was swathed in bandages, where the worst bruises were.

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked him.

"I still have some bruises," he gestured to the bandages, "But my insides are fine,"

"I should get those," she said and she raised herself up and made her way over to Zuko's bed. Ignoring his protests, she gestured for him to move over and when he finally conceded and did so, sat down on the edge of his bed. She placed a hand on his chest and began unwrapping the bandages.

"Katara,"

When she looked up at him, their eyes met and her thoughts were lost.

**Author's Note**: Yay! Took me a while to think of the idea. I know its a tad ooc, but ...... she was mad, okay? There's a bit of one sided Kataang, cause I love Aang and think he's wonderful. I just like Zuko better. :D Review please!!!


	3. Jealousy

**Disclaier: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender. Also, note to my readers; This oneshot is based on Zutara happening before the final battle and after trying to keep it secret, they are discovered and now have an established relationship. It's kinda focused on Aang because I feel a need to pay a tribute to him after supporting Zutara. **

Zutara Week: Jealousy

Aang watched miserably from his seat next to the fire. Zuko and Katara were being nice about the whole thing, trying not to trod on his feelings any more than they already were and so even though the two weren't making any "public displays of affections", as Sokka called them, the two were obviously in love. Aang could see it every time their eyes met; how Zuko's hands would flicker towards Katara's, the secretive looks they shared as if promising something more later, how they whispered words to each other when they thought no one was looking.

And it was these things that broke Aang's heart. Jealousy and anger and pain and an overwhelming sadness smothered him and each breath he took felt labored. He had known Katara did not return his feelings, but he thought that with time, she would. And then _he _had to swoop in with all his Fire Nation royalty and snatch away the only girl Aang had ever wanted.

"Hey, buddy, you okay?" Sokka asked quietly, elbowing the desparing airbender gently.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Aang muttered, hugging his knees to his chest. Sokka gave his young friend a concerned look before backing off. Happily, the water tribe youth spooned dinner into his mouth at an (admirable, to Sokka. disgusting, to Katara) rate as scooted over to Suki, who smiled at him and leaned up to place a quick kiss on his cheek.

Aang glowered as Zuko's and Katara's hands met breifly as she passed him his dinner and the two exchanged looks. Aang felt jealousy flare inside of him, drowning out all his other emotions and common sense. With an angry stomp of his foot, Aang earthbended Zuko so that he landed face first in his dinner. His eyes smoldering with suppressed anger, Zuko glared at Toph.

"Wasn't me," Toph said, raising her hands up in surrender. Something in her words rang true and Zuko's gaze shifted to the only other person in their group who could earthbend. As his gaze settled on Aang, his face softened.

"Aang..." he began. But Aang interrupted him.

"I hate you, Zuko. I really do and I wish you would just...just leave!" Aang exclaimed angrily before he took off on his glider.

Zuko's face was stricken.

"He doesn't really mean that," Sokka put in as Katara scooted closer to Zuko consolingly, "He's just...upset,"

Zuko nodded mutely.

"I'll go talk to him," Toph declared as she stood up. When Sokka protested, Toph cut him off with a small boulder hovering beside his head.

"He hardly wants to see Zuko right now, seeing Katara would just make him feel worse, and you and Fangirl don't do talks like this!"

"As if you do!" Sokka called indignantly at Toph's retreating back. Suki glared at her nitwit of a boyfriend and nudged him hard.

Katara sighed and rested her head on Zuko's shoulder. Sokka made a face.

"NO LOVEY DOVEY AT DINNER! You'll put me off my food!"

Suki elbowed her boyfriend as Katara told her brother, "_Nothing _puts you off your food,"

*********************************************************************

"Hey," Aang looked up as his earthbending teacher plopped down beside him on the roof of the Fire Lord's house on Ember Island.

"Just so you know, I know how you feel,"

"You do?"

"Yeah," Toph replied, "Your hurt and angry inside at Zuko. You're jealous each time they look at each other or see them together. But you still love her and part of you still wants her to be happy and you know that if being with him makes her happy, then so be it. But you still feel like you hate Zuko,"

Aang's shoulders sagged.

"Yeah," he sighed, "It's just that, Katara's the only girl I want. Zuko can have any girl he wants once this is over. He's royalty! And he still has to take the only girl I love,"

"He isn't doing it to spite you. And you're the Avatar. You're pretty much royalty too,"

"I guess,"

A moment passed as both 12 year olds sat together companionably. Then, Aang turned his head to Toph and gave her a strange look that he knew she couldn't see.

"You sound as if you've gone through the same thing,"

Toph was silent for a moment before she sighed and thunked her head down on her knees. "I have. I love that nitwit. I really do. Each time he goes near Fangirl I want to punch her in the gut. But he's just so happy around her, and I can't take that away from him,"

"Sokka?!"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Toph challenged.

"No! No, makes sense, I guess,"

"Humph," Toph relaxed. A moment later, she punched Aang playfully in the arm.

"Come on, Twinkletoes. Let's go finish eating,"

"All right," And together the two walked back to the fire, each steeling themselves to deal with seeing the people they loved be in love with someone else. And with Toph by his side, Aang felt his white-hot jealousy fade a way just a little.

**Author's Note: I finished writing and when I looked back, I realized how very Toph/Aang this is. I don't know if this should be in Zutara week, but I feel that Aang's reaction is an important part of Zutara. Reveiw please! **


	4. Cactus Juice

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender. **

Zutara Week: Cactus Juice

Toph was bored. And then, fifteen minutes later, she wasn't. Ominous.

*************************************************

The gang lounged around in a small clearing in the woods. There hadn't been any sightings of Azula lately and so every member of the group felt fairly relaxed. The group was chatting (well, Zuko wasn't. But he was sitting in content silence. Not sulking) and drinking the tea that Zuko had made and Toph had served (suspicious. note that). Life was good.

"Hey Aang, when you finish your tea, I want to go practice waterbending. The moon is going to be up soon,"

"Sure Katara!" Aang replied enthusiastically, happy to spend time with her. A few minutes later, the two benders were standing knee high in a nearby stream. Aang had taken off his shirt and Katara's outer blue clothing was folded neatly on the pebbly bank.

"Ready? Try to get through my shield," Katara ordered as she raised a curved wall of water in front of her. Aang pulled a long stream of water around him and froze it into ice daggers. And the lesson began.

*************************************************

Back at camp, Zuko was acting a bit strange. With a rather dazed expression on his face, he stood and walked unsteadily towards the stream.

"Where are you going?" Sokka called.

"Stream," Zuko called back in a voice that was a bit off. Sokka shrugged and just then, Momo darted in, stealing a pile of fruit from Sokka's lap.

"HEY!"

Unnoticed by everyone, Toph clasped her hands behind her head and chuckled.

************************************************

A few minutes later, a growling Katara stalked back into camp.

"Katara! What's wrong? Your hand!" Sokka sat up, looking worried.

"What's wrong? That's wrong!" she fumed, pointing a rigid finger at a soaked Zuko who was standing next to Aang as the two entered the clearing. Zuko had clearly became sober again, as the furious red blush on his face testified.

Rounding on Zuko, he growled out. "What. Did you do. To my little. Sister."

"Err....Well, I wasn't exactly..." Zuko scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Flashback.

_"Hi...Katara," Zuko said as he staggered into the water. Aang stopped, letting an ice disk he was about to let fly melt and looked at the unsteady Zuko curiously. Katara dropped her water whip and gave Zuko a suspicious look. _

_"What are you doing?" she asked, backing away as Zuko sloshed through the water towards her._

_"Er...Zuko?" Aang asked, "Umm....I don't th-"_

_"ZUKO!!!" Katara drowned at the rest of Aang's sentence in her panicked/angry yell as Zuko lunged towards her._

_The drunken boy wrapped his arm around Katara's waist and pulled her close until she was flush against his body. His lips smashed into hers as his other hand pressed against the back of her head keeping her from pulling away. Aang's gasp could probably be heard from Pluto._

_"Oof," Zuko staggered back as a water whip struck him across the back of the head._

_"What were you doing!?!?" Katara screeched. Infuriated, she swung her fist into the side of Zuko's head, the water whip trailing her actions so that two punches hit Zuko simultaneously. A crack sounded as a bone in Katara's hand cracked._

_"You BROKE my HAND!" she screamed before storming back towards camp, cradling the injured hand against her chest. Zuko sat in the river completely soaked. A flurry of emotions vied for space on Aang's features and he worried concern trumped anger, jealousy, and shock. Pulling Zuko to his feet, for anyone could tell that Zuko wasn't in his right mind, Aang set off after Katara._

End flashback.

"Eh..heh heh heh" Zuko laughed nervously.

"He KISSED me and then BROKE my hand!" Katara burst out as she encased her broken hand in glowing blue water.

"You WHAT?!!?" Sokka yelled.

Toph cackled with glee.

"Man, this turned out better than I planned!"

Everybody turned to look at the blind earthbender, who was now literally rolling on the floor laughing. Feeling everyone's gaze on her, Toph wiped away her tears of mirth and sat up.

"I spiked Zuko's tea with cactus juice,"

"TOPH!"

"You still have some? Why didn't you give me any- er, I mean, bad Toph," Sokka quailed under his sister's glare.

"Argh," Aang groaned.

"What's cactus juice?"

Sokka sighed and explained.

"Cactus juice makes a person drunk and do weird things,"

"I don't care if he was downright intoxicated! He still kissed me and broke my hand!" Katara stormed off into her tent.

Zuko groaned as he sat down and thunked his forehead on his knees repeatedly.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Each word was accentuated by a thump.

The rest of the group settled down, each to their own thoughts. The only sound to be heard was Toph's gleeful laughter and Zuko's repeated curses.

Alone in her tent, Katara lay back on her sleeping bag and thought dreamily. _Well that really wasn't so bad. _

**Author's Note: Haha. That was a fun one to write. Poor Zuzu. :D The punching and breaking a hand because he kissed her thing is from the Twilight series. I didn't come up with it. I just think its funny. Reveiw please! **


	5. Fireflies

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender. (Right after the gaang defeats Ozai and Zuko is crowned Fire Lord)**

Zutara Week: Fireflies

Let's set the scene. The palace gardens; a perfect circle of lush grass and beautiful flowers. Scattered artistically about it are clumps of fire lilies and clover and blooming ivy twines itself against tall wooden posts. Near the back of the garden is a small pond. Draping across its far end is a weeping willow and a family of turtle-ducks rest peacefully among the bullrushes and lilypads that float on the surface of the clear water. Spanning the length of the pond is a delicate-looking arched wooden bridge painted red and carved with intricate designs.

The Fire Lord, dressed in light robes, walked through this place silently, his soft footsteps making no noise on the grass. He made his way to the pond and after tossing the family of turtle-ducks a few crumbs scavenged from his pockets, walked up the bridge and stood at its top. Now, away from the prying eyes of court, Zuko finally allowed himself to relax and leaned against the railing. He slid down and sat, not caring that he was ruining the fancy robe.

As Zuko sat alone in the silence, his thoughts flashed through the past 48 hours. The gaang defeated Ozai, Azula had gone insane and been locked up, the whole group had become recognized war heroes, he was crowned Fire Lord, and he and Mai had shared a kiss, getting back together. When he looked up at the night sky, Zuko realized that the sky as it is now, dark, overcast, clouds hiding the moon and stars from view, was how his life had been for the past few years. Zuko thought back to those beautiful blue eyes that haunted him every night. _Katara. _Since he had joined them, she had been the stars, the moon, the sun. She was the light when his life and the world were dark. And for that, he would always love her.

_Love her. _

Zuko panicked. He couldn't love Katara! She and Aang were.... He and Mai were......

But despite this, Zuko knew that Katara was the love of his life, and always would be. And as the fireflies, a sight he hadn't seen in so long, floated out gently from their daytime perches, Zuko thought of her. His firefly in the dark.

**Author's Note: Sorry! Sorry! I know; its really short and only one-sided Zutara, but I don't know. Its the best I could come up with. Maybe I'll write something like this from Katara's point of view later... Review please! **


	6. Fireflies II

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender. **

Zutara Week: Fireflies II

Katara sat on the wide window ledge in her fancy room in the Fire Palace. Though Zuko would have if he could, there simply wasn't enough time to redecorate their rooms in their respective nationality colors. And so her room was painted a dark rusty red shot through with glimmerings of gold. The plush carpeted floor reminded Katara uncomfortably of the thick fur rugs of her home and the huge canopy bed, draped in layers of silky veils in various shades of red and gold and piled high with pillows and embroidered blankets, was very comfortable, but just felt strange after sleeping on the dirt for so long.

On her perch, Katara shivered and pulled her blanket tighter over the light shift she wore as a night gown. It wasn't cold, in fact, the night was unseasonably warm with just a light, balmy breeze. It was the absence of the face of the moon, masked by the overhanging gray clouds that caused a chill to invade Katara's body. Lowering her gaze, Katara looked down upon a beautiful, tranquil garden. The flowers emitted a gentle perfume that wafted up to her and the slight breeze caused the trailing willow branches to sway.

Suddenly, a lone figure stepped out of the shadows and into the garden. As a child of war, Katara instantly tensed, her hand resting on the water pouch that was slung over her shoulder. Looking closer, Katara realized it was just Zuko. She watched curiously as he walked across the garden, stopping to cup a fire lily in his hand and to throw a few crumbs at the turtle-ducks, and stepped onto the bridge. When the Fire Lord sank down, collapsing in on himself where he thought no one else could see him, Katara felt her heart cry out to the poor boy and she desperately wanted to leap down off the window ledge and sprint over to him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, to wind her fingers through his hair, to brush her lips to his, to- Katara suddenly caught her train of though and gasped.

_No. _

She couldn't think of Zuko like this. No, not now. Not in these times. But perhaps...now that the war was over, the four nations would be writing peace treaties and forming alliances. Wouldn't a relationship (Katara stubbornly refused to use the word marriage) between the Fire Lord and the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe be beneficial? Encouraged even? It was strange to think of herself as a princess, but technically she was.

_No._

Katara thought again. Who else would help Aang -wince- repopulate the Air Nomads? Her family needed her and she would sacrifice her heart, her love, her very being for them. That was what she did. And so it was with a suppressed sigh of longing and of a deep rooted love peppered with anguish, and hurt, and pain, that Katara looked upon Zuko one last time and seeing the fireflies blinking around the clearing, wished with all her heart that she could be his firefly, his light, on the darkest of nights.

**Author's Note: Ok, so not very good. I know. Reveiw anyway? Because you guys love me? **


	7. Rhythm

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

Zutara Week: Rhythm

Toph, Suki, and Sokka clapped and cheered enthusiastically while Zuko clapped politely as Aang and Katara finished their dance.

"Wow! That was amazing! Where did you guys learn to dance like that?" Suki said admiringly.

"It was even better in the cave, with all the people and and the music," Toph remarked, grinning.

"It was still a stupid idea to have a dance party in the middle of the Fire Nation,"

"Shut up, Sokka,"

"Well it was!"

As the group squabbled, Aang and Katara sat down, faces flushed with exertion. Zuko sat, strange thoughts running through his head. He had felt a strange, raw emotion in his gut while watching Aang and Katara dance. And when the dance had ended with Katara over the boy's leg, the feeling exploded and Zuko had had to exert all his self control not to go and tackle the little monk. Now, doing the best to shut out his emotions, Zuko tried to pay attention to the conversation.

"Hey! What if we have a dance party now?" Suki suggested, "It'd be fun,"

"It's not like we have anything better to do," Sokka put in, warming to the idea. The two flushed dancers made noises of agreement. Then, Zuko had to put in his two-cents worth.

"A party?" he asked skeptically, "With what, five people?"

Sokka glared at him.

"It's a good idea," he said stubbornly.

"Hey wait. There's six of us," Katara said, the slight crease in her brow making Zuko nearly faint with the emotions that the simple action awoke in him. Despite them, he kept up his calm facade.

"Five. I'm not dancing," Immediately, everybody protested loudly.

"Zuko! Come on! You have to dance," Katara said firmly, "I've got an idea. You like contests right? Course you do. You're a competitive person and you don't like to lose," she said, ignoring Zuko's protests at her reading of his personality, "So, we'll have a dancing contest!"

Everyone was silent as they rolled the idea around.

"I like it! How 'bout we split into teams? Snoozles and Fangirl, Me and Twinkletoes, Sugar Queen and Sparky,"

"Sure!" both Sokka and Suki were happy to be paired together.

"NO!" Zuko and Katara each had identical expressions of horror that showed in their voices.

"Why does Zuko have to be with Katara?" Aang cried.

"Because, oh smart one, I need a partner and you're the only one my height. That leaves Sparky and Sweetness,"

Not wanting to hurt Toph's feelings, Aang conceded reluctantly.

In a moment, each group had gone off to their own corner where they had an hour to come up with and practice a dance to the rhythm of a simple melody they had all agreed on.

****************************************************************

One Hour Later

****************************************************************

"Yay Sokka!" Katara cried, applauding as her brother and Suki sat down. The two had preformed a lively ball room dance, with Sokka managing only to trip three times and trod on Suki's feet twice.

"What are you talking about? Snoozles sucked! Fangirl was pretty good though," Toph protested.

"True," Katara agreed after a moment's consideration, "But I have to support him, he's my brother,"

Toph snorted.

Next, Aang and Toph preformed a ribbon dance, using thin strips of rock that they bended to their will as they danced. Leaping up about them as they twirled were beautiful twisting shapes of earth that both earthbending masters bent up around them. The whole dance was coergraphed so that the movements would produce elegant earth sculptures but still keeping the steps themselves pretty.

Everyone clapped, admiring the splendid earthbending display.

Finally, Zuko and Katara were up. Each throwing one last glare at Toph that she couldn't see, the two stepped into the center space.

"This should be good," Toph smirked.

"Shut up," Zuko growled.

And then, Katara and Zuko moved to their beginning positions.

The two benders stood about half a foot apart, facing each other. When the first notes of the music sounded, Katara raised her arms and began to move her hips and legs slowly to the music. As the music sped up, Katara moved out of her position and began dancing a shifting series of movements in a wide circle around Zuko. Her dancing was obviously based off of waterbending forms and she moved from one movement to the next; always moving, flowing, changing. Then, Zuko stopped being stationary. He preformed a powerful series of movements strongly reminiscent of the Dancing Dragon. And so, strong, raging fire was encircled by shifting, changing water.

When the music's tempo slowed, the two revolved until Katara stood in the center, shifting into the forms that called huge tidal waves and froze water into enormous ice bergs. Zuko revolved around her, his movements reminders of flickering embers and candle light.

Then, the rhythm of the music changed yet again. Faster and faster and faster, until, with a flourish, the dance ended with Katara holding her arms above her head and Zuko with his arms forming a circle around her waist, their faces a mere inch from the others.

Ignoring the applause of the others, Zuko and Katara held their finishing poses, chests heaving. Nervously, the applause died out. Aang and Suki shifted uncomfortably and Sokka yelled out,

"You can get your hands off my sister now!"

But they did not hear. They only heard the rapid beating of the other's heart, their fast thrumming continuing the rhythm of their music. Closer and closer they leaned, until their lips met lightly. The enraged rantings of Sokka and gasp of shock from Aang were reduced to mere murmurings in the background, adding to the music. The kiss deepened, and they turned their heads this way and that, their lips moving to the rhythm of their hearts.

**Author's Note: Sorry I took so long getting this up, I just had no ideas. I know Zutara Week is already over, but I WILL get all these prompts up. I know the description of the Zutara dance was a bit boring, but I really needed to say exactly what it looked like in my head. And its a bit OOC, but oh well. :D PLEASE REVEIW!!!!! PLEASE!!! **


	8. Lick

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

Zuko walked into and looked around the open area in the center of the royal family's house on Ember Island. Sokka and Suki sat together on the steps. Toph lay sprawled out on the floor, playing fetch with Momo with a pebble. Aang was settled cross-legged on the floor near her, laughing at his pet's antics. Katara was perched on the edge of the fountain, her bare feet dangling into the cool water. All of them, not including Momo, were sucking on what appeared to be small tubes of ice with fruit embedded inside.

"Wow, Katara! These popsicles are delicious!" Aang called, grinning as he caught a droplet that was dripping off with his toung.

"Seriously Sugar Queen, you've out done yourself this time,"

Sokka was opening his mouth to make a food-related remark when he noticed Zuko.

"Hey, Zuko. These popsicles Katara made are delicious! She made this sugar water type stuff, then froze 'em with fruit inside! You should try one,"

"..." Zuko was about to brush it off and say he wouldn't like one, but it was a sweltering day. The sun was blazing down from above and there was no breeze at all to alleviate the heat and despite himself, Zuko had to admit that frozen ice, frozen sweet ice, would be particularly refreshing. And so he turned to Katara.

"Nope, there's none left," Katara said cheerily, her tone making it quite clear that she derived no end of amusement from this fact and might even had done it on purpose.

Zuko glared at her.

"And how come there's one for everyone else, but none for me?" Zuko asked, glowering.

"Well...I did say first come first served, but you were too deep in your meditation to hear me," Katara shrugged, still grinning, "Plus, there was only enough fruit to make five of them. It's a pity really, they really are delicious," So saying, she made a show of licking her popsicle.

"Katara..." Aang began disapprovingly while Suki giggled and Toph laughed.

"Too bad is right. Too bad you won't get to eat one," Zuko smirked as he took a bite out of the popsicle he held. Katara looked down and upon seeing that the popsicle in her hand had disappeared glared at him.

"That was mine!"

"Now it's not,"

"Grrrr!!!" Katara lunged forward and made to grap her popsicle back. Zuko dropped the sugared ice and grabbed Katara's wrists.

"Now...let's say we share one," he breathed, his face close to hers.

Katara nodded, too blown away by his proximity to snap back an indignant response as she wrenched away her hands or to speak.

Zuko smiled and released her. Katara picked up the popsicle and after washing it off in the fountain, sat down with Zuko by her side. With the others smirking/laughing/gaping in astonishment, the two shared the ice.

**Author's Note: Yeah, I know this one is really bad. Like..._really _bad. But I kinda ran out of ideas....... review please, constructive criticism is welcomed!! Goodness knows I need the help...**

**EDIT: Yeah, this is a really belated addition to the end of this, but I just had to add it now 'cause I forgot earlier.**

**Thanks to Keliantria, things24, DefyGravity2502, and Zutaraesque for reading and reviewing this. And special thanks to DefyGravity2502 for sticking with me the whole way through and for leaving a review practically every chapter. :D THANK YOU!!!!**

**Now, you _really _should go and read all my other stories. :D It'd make me happy! **


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